What is it like for an author and editor as they whip a manuscript into shape? Start with working 24/7 to meet a crazy-ass publication deadline that gets closer every day. Think LONG hours, but that's okay due to the insomnia, challenged ego, insane research for justifications and/or corrections, cancelled dates, meetings, hook-ups, anything that requires cooking, dishes or the care and feeding of pets and children.

My editor Tera Cuskaden from Entangled Teen

Time off? Forget about it! Not until the deadline is met.

You're life goes on hold. Your day job stops dead. You might as well have been abducted by aliens for the duration, as far as connecting outside your mind is concerned.

Except for your editor.

They become the only other human on the planet that matters.

The process is so unnatural, there are special workshops and therapy available to help recover from it. A quick google will also produce lists of ways to cope while 'it's happening.'

You might ask, if it's so arduous, and the book's already written, why even bother to have an editor?

Let me pop that quiff right now.

No book will ever be as strong, clean, professional, emotive, driving and awe inspiring as it could be, if you don't have a good editor. They not only help with continuity of characters an plot, they eliminate repetition and increase edge, banish confusion and amp up heart. In other words, they make the book, and the writer, the best they can possibly be.